Tikka Makhani (Butter chicken) – GF,NSF,CF,EF

When researching the recipe for this dish, I found that the recipes are often interchangeable. I dug deeper and found that masala is spicier and uses white meat and makhani includes butter and dark meat. Mmmm. Give me the dark meat any day!

Many recipes call for a full can of coconut milk or heavy cream. But some called for chicken stock. I decided to go lighter and use my chicken bone broth and just add a little nut milk at the end. If I had a leftover partial can of coconut milk, I could have also used that.

Butter Chicken Thighs over tahdig (deboned and chopped)

The key to making this (or any spicy) dish is balance. You have to taste and see if the spicy, sweet, salty, sour, savory tastes are all in balance. If any one flavor sticks out too much, you know you have to adjust to seasonings until all the elements harmonize together.

My Garam Masala Blend

2 tsp each: coriander, cinnamon, garlic, ginger

1/4 tsp each: cardamon, clove, cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Customize your own indian spice blend!

The beauty of garam masala is that the spice blend is as unique as the person doing the cooking! You can make your own custom blend and keep it on hand. Some blend recipes I researched called for fennel seeds, turmeric and cayenne pepper. I didn’t have the two former spices on hand and I don’t like cayenne pepper. I referenced The Flavor Bible to find traditional indian flavorings.

If you decide to create your own garam masala, you might want to consider those spices as well.

Rub half of the garam masala blend and the sea salt on the skinless chicken thighs. Refrigerate covered for one hour unto overnight.

Bake the chicken for 30 minutes at 400°F.

Heat the olive oil in a medium hot skillet. When the oil is warm add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until soft (about 3-5 minutes), stirring frequently to keep the garlic from burning.

Add the remaining half of the garam masala blend to the pan and stir the spices in the oil until fragrant.

Add the tomato paste into the pan and stir until paste is lightly caramelized.

Add chicken stock, nut milk, and chicken thighs. If at any point the mixture is boiling or bubbling turn the heat down to low.

Cook until the chicken is heated through.

Add butter at the last minute to finish the sauce. Taste the sauce to make seasoning adjustments. Add sugar, salt, and pepper as needed to balance the flavor.

Serve over rice, quinoa, or noodles.

Notes

Cooking the thighs on the bone makes them more flavorful. You can cut the meat off the bone and rough chop before you add back to the sauce, if you like. You can also stretch the meat to make 6 portions this way.

3.2.1311

Individual Tahdig Shells

Individual tahdig shell

For this presentation, I make individual brown rice tahdigs using small pie plates. I wanted them to be crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Instead of cooking them on the stove as you do with the larger version, I baked them in the oven. Bake 10 minutes at 450°F. Rotate, then 20 minutes at 300°F.

Tips

Make the shell thicker than you think it should be as it will shrink in the oven.

Let them rest for 5-10 minutes. Then, remove from the pie plate carefully while still warm. Otherwise, they stick!

I prefer the dark meat chicken as well. This dish sounds wonderful, especially with the coconut milk! Great combination of sweet, spicy, salty and savory. Thanks for sharing with us at The Yuck Stops Here. Pinning!

Hello, I found you from Sincerely Paula Wednesday Blog Party. Oh Man this is making my mouth water as I am reading it. I have printed it out and will be trying it this weekend. I will do a post about it as well. It is funny because my husband and I were just talking about trying new recipes. Thank you for sharing. Come check out my blog and follow back please.

I’ve always wanted to make Butter Chicken, but never have. It looks really good and serving it over the Tahdig Shells makes it extra special. Those shells have my brain coming up with all sorts of appetizers!

The recipe I make is the Chicken Tikka Masala and we LOVE it, so I know I’ll love this one too! Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you so much for sharing with us at Delicious Dish Tuesday! I’m featuring this as my favorite for this week’s DDT!! Feel free to come grab the “Featured Favorite” button from the post (will be posted later tonight), and bring another awesome recipe with you to share too! 😀

I love Buttered Chicken and this looks awesome! Hope you have a great week and thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Your post has been pinned with the party!
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen

I LOVE Indian food! This sounds amazing and I am going to have to try it. 😉 Thanks for sharing it at Savoring Saturdays, Jillian! I’m going to feature it at this weekend’s party. Hope to see you back again! 🙂

All recipes on this site are corn-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, paleo-ish, and mostly dairy free. I strongly encourage you to choose organic, non-GMO ingredients whenever possible, even if I forget to call it out on the ingredient list. :-)

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